“Humanity is at the heart of good leadership. A court that lacks compassion can add to the suffering of families in crisis. I am committed to serving the public with kindness, respect, dignity, and fairness.”
Biography for Lisa Carey Dean
Lisa Carey Dean has more than 25 years of experience as a licensed, practicing attorney for the State of Ohio. She joined Roderick Linton Belfance, LLP in 2005 and became an Equity Partner of the firm in 2015. Her legal work is focused primarily on family law including divorce, dissolution, prenuptial agreements, custody and support issues. She is a skilled litigator who represents clients and makes court appearances on their behalf in Summit, Portage, Stark and Medina counties.
Lisa is a lifelong resident of Summit County, Ohio. She earned her undergraduate degree, with honors, from Kent State University and received her Juris Doctor from Cleveland-Marshall College of Law. While in law school, she received recognition for her outstanding performance in Criminal Procedure and was offered an Externship with the United States Attorney’s Office located in Cleveland. Lisa also participated in Moot Court competitions and was elected by her classmates as a Senator of the Student Bar Association.
After serving the public, Lisa entered private practice as a trial attorney. She has accumulated a wealth of knowledge and experience in domestic relations law, handling complex litigation involving business valuations, real estate transactions, complex divisions of retirement and investment accounts, and many other multifaceted legal issues. She is also recognized in our community as a zealous and respected advocate for the rights of family members, including her noted work to advance the rights of same-sex marriage partners and parents.
Lisa has also appeared and argued before the Ninth District and Eleventh District Courts of Appeals. Additionally, Lisa completed extensive training through a program created by the Supreme Court of Ohio to become a certified mediator. She uses this training to resolve countless matters by way of settlement, with the goal of saving time and money for her clients.
Prior to beginning her private practice as an attorney, Lisa served the public in the appellate division of the Summit County and the Portage County Prosecutor’s Offices. While at the Portage County Prosecutor’s Office, Lisa wrote briefs in favor of the application of “Megan’s Law” (requiring sexually oriented offenders to register), and others that were ultimately argued before the Supreme Court of Ohio.
Lisa also served the public as Judicial Attorney to the Honorable Judge Judith A. Nicely (retired) of the Summit County Domestic Relations Court. She was acknowledged by Baldwin’s Ohio Practice on Domestic Relations Law for her assistance to Judge Nicely in the publication of the 2000 Edition of Chapter 19: Child Support.
Lisa returned to public service while also continuing to practice law in the private sector. Lisa served the public as a Magistrate in Mayor’s Court for the City of Cuyahoga Falls from 2014 until 2019, and has served as the elected Law Director for the City of Green since 2020.
Lisa has remained very active in serving the local community throughout her legal career, including creating the “Golf is for Girls” program, which promotes leadership by and empowerment of high school and middle school aged girls through early introduction of the game of golf. As the first ever and only elected law director for the City of Green, she hosts quarterly law clinics and Know Your Rights programs, which are free and open to the public.
She has also been selected by her peer attorneys to be a Fellow of both the Ohio Bar Association and the Akron Bar Association.
